Iris
by Initial A
Summary: My first songfic, set to the Goo Goo Dolls song 'Iris'. InuYasha and Kagome reflect emotionally on their separation between chapters 557 and 558.


**Iris**

**By: InitialA/TuxedoUranus89**

**Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha, or the Goo Goo Dolls' song 'Iris'. Sadly. (**

**Author's Note: Well, this is part of a challenge I'm putting out to the fanfics writers of the world. And it's a challenge for myself too, since I've never written a songfic before. More angst and connecting the dots between the 557****th**** chapter and the 558****th**** chapter.**

**THE CHALLENGE: Write a one-shot of any genre and rating using the prompt of one of two songs: "Counting Blue Cars" by Dishwalla or "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls. You may use one line out of the song as your central 'idea' of the story, or you may use the entire song in a songfic.**

_And I'd give up forever to touch you_

'_Cause I know that you'd feel me somehow._

He held her close, breathing in her intoxicating scent, making him drunk off of her joy and relief. He felt a weight fall off his shoulders; the burden of the last year was gone, making him feel like he could fly. He ignored the fact that he technically was flying right now. She looked up at him, tears of happiness shining unshed in her eyes. "It's over."

His eyes softened. "Yeah."

_You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be_

_And I don't want to go home right now._

He wished he could just stay like this. He was tired, and being with her felt so _right_. Her petite frame fit so perfectly against him. He wished for the millionth time he'd realized how much she meant to him earlier. She was the angel sent to liberate him: from the tree, from the pain of his past, from the loneliness of living, from the fear of the future. He wondered again which god smiled upon him to have such a woman in his life.

_And all I can taste is this moment_

_And all I can breathe is your life._

Her gaze never strayed from his. She gently leaned up, and chastely kissed him on the lips. His hands fisted into her hair, fearing that if he didn't hold on, she'd disappear just like he'd feared she would over the last months. He hoped with all his being this wasn't the end of a long dream, that she was here to stay. Their foreheads rested together. "Can I be with you?" She whispered.

"You promised me you would." His voice was hoarse.

"As long as you'll have me?"

"Forever."

_And sooner or later it's over_

_I just don't want to miss you tonight_.

They both felt a tug. He redoubled his grip on her, not wanting to lose her. They fell fast through the blue magic of the well. She hid her face against him, wondering which side they'd end up on, and not wanting to know at the same time. When he gasped, she looked. Her family looked shocked, pale, and frightened. "Kagome!" Her mother cried, lunging for her.

"Mama!"

The tears he'd been surprised she'd held in for so long fell fast. "He saved me…" She told them, watching her hanyou.

He started to climb out of the well, but his ankles felt locked in place. He felt a violent tug, and felt splinters dig into his skin where he'd once been grabbing the sides. She screamed his name as he fell back to his own time.

_And I don't want the world to see me_

'_cause I don't think that they'd understand._

He stared back at the sky in his own time. The vines were still there, unlike in her time. He sat down hard on the ground, not wanting to believe what had just happened, but past life experiences telling him he should have expected this. The god who'd smiled on him must have been a trickster god. Anger, confusion, pain, sadness; emotions bubbled in his chest and he didn't know where to start sorting them out. Howling his grief to the clouds, three familiar friends weren't sure whether or not to comfort him yet or not.

_When everything's made to be broken,_

_I just want you to know who I am._

"Kagome…"

_And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming,_

_Or the moment of truth in your lies_

She didn't want them to talk to her, but they ignored her as usual. She insisted she was fine. They insisted she wasn't. She was pale, they said, and her eyes looked red and puffy. Had she been crying? Was it her boyfriend?

She wanted to scream. _Yes! But it's so much more than that!_ Her eyes were red and puffy, but not from crying. She'd cried herself out months ago. She'd been sleeping badly. He vanished from her almost nightly, through death, or Kikyou, or telling her he didn't love her. Each time it made her heart hurt worse than it had the first time he'd been ripped from her life. _He didn't belong here…_

_When everything feels like the movies_

_Yeah, you bleed just to know you're alive._

It had happened, hadn't it? All of it? He wasn't so sure anymore. Maybe he'd already known Miroku and Sango. Maybe the kitsune had always been his annoying shadow. Maybe Kikyou had died from a bandit attack, and maybe that's how Kaede had lost her eye.

They insisted it had happened though. Shippou showed him his drawings. They remembered her too. He wasn't crazy, he knew he wasn't, but he felt numb without her touch, deaf without her voice to listen to. He made the effort to appear interested in things around him, such as the wedding of the monk and the taijiya, and the excitement of the newly-expectant parents. He really did. But he felt detached from the world at the same time.

_And I don't want the world to see me_

'_cause I don't think that they'd understand_.

It was why he returned to the well every three days. He felt closer to her here, a little more in touch with the world here.

_When everything's meant to be broken,_

_I just want you to know who I am._

He tried to keep it a secret, but the kitsune caught him eventually. He'd been accused at first of obsession, but after the fight had cooled off, he had been assaulted by a crying kit. "I miss her too."

"Kagome…"

_And I don't want the world to see me_

'_cause I don't think that they'd understand_.

She was in the well house again. She'd been here a few times in the last three years or so since the abrupt closing, but she tried to resist it's whispering call. It wouldn't change. Her mother had grown worried about how often she'd initially spent in there, so for Mama's sake alone did she cut her trips to the old building.

_When everything's meant to be broken,_

_I just want you to know who I am._

Inside, she was screaming. She missed her hanyou. She missed her friends. She wondered what they were doing. She could check the old shrine records, perhaps there might be something there, but at the same time, she felt it would be cheating. The well might open again, and she'd find out. The chance was slim, but with all her sore heart, she dared to hope. "InuYasha…"

_And I don't want the world to see me_

'_cause I don't think that they'd understand_.

The well felt different this time. She gripped the edges almost fearfully. Were years of hope about to bear fruit?

Her mother came in, worried again for the obsession her daughter had with the old well. It was hard on her too, but she had come to accept that the strange year in their lives had come to a close, and with it went the silver-haired hanyou and the strange magic surrounding the well. Her daughter had clung to hope that the well might reopen, that she might get some kind of closure to her adventures in the past.

"Mama…?"

_When everything's meant to be broken,_

_I just want you to know who I am._

She slipped through the glitch in time, her mother's sad but encouraging blessings ringing in her ears. She saw the sky, and breathed in the clean air. "InuYasha?

_I just want you to know who I am._

He was there. He knew the instant she'd returned. Hope bloomed in his chest as he raced for the old well. Taking a deep breath, he swallowed and thrust his hand down the well. Her small hand gripped it, and he pulled. "Kagome…"

_I just want you to know who I am._

She smiled at him. He felt for the first time in years. Swiftly he gathered her into a bone-crushing hug, hoping to convey his feelings somehow. She hugged him just as fiercely. "InuYasha…"

_I just want you to know who I am._

**((Hmmm, that was harder than I thought. XD But I kind of enjoyed playing with the line "I just want you to know who I am", in addition to the "InuYasha!" "Kagome!" that always happens. I hope you enjoyed it, and I also enjoy seeing who takes up the challenge as well!! Please let me know if you do! Reviews are ALWAYS welcome, and thank you for reading!))**


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